Peace of Mind
by WithDemonWings
Summary: Sequel to If Anyone Noticed. Harry finally finds some peace of mind as he spends time with Charlie and finds a dragon that won't leave him alone, even if it does keep trying to eat him. Eventual slash of the CW/HP variety.


_Hellos!_

_Sorry this took so long, but I did have several versions of this but none of them were satisfactory at all! But I think this one is. I like it! I hope you do to. I may have shamelessly borrowed from a certain Dreamworks film but I think it totally works! _

_If you haven't guessed this is the continuation/explanation of __If Anyone Noticed__. You don't necessarily have had to of read that to understand this._

_Enjoy, hope all your questions are answered...  
_

**Peace of Mind**

Harry sat in the canoe in the middle of the lake in the Romanian mountains. He stared around himself, turning the canoe absently.

He had had to get away, it had been two since the wedding and he had insisted that Hermione and Draco take their month long honeymoon in South America.

As soon as they had left he had booked his hotel and vanished into the wilds of Romania.

He knew he should be going back but he hadn't been able to face anyone. He knew he had the support of his friends, but well he was tired of his job and he wanted to not be in the public eye anymore, not that he wanted it in the first place mind.

He had been promoted to Deputy of the Auror's the youngest to ever be, and he had no idea how that had happened. He suddenly smiled softly, it was decided, he would resign from his post and focus on his writing. Besides he was still limping from that last injury he'd gotten on duty.

With that decision he felt, lighter somehow. Suddenly it started to rain and Harry tilted his head up into the rain. He took a deep breath before letting it out, and began to paddle back to his camp. He only had to deal with Oliver and Ginny and her family but now that he had made that one decision the rest didn't seem so imposing.

Charlie appeared at the shore, he was soaked through too, he didn't seem to mind it either.

Harry had taken Charlie up on his offer of camping in the Romanian mountains for however long he wanted. The redhead was hunting for a small, rare dragon that had somehow escaped the reserve, it was still injured and now at two weeks in the wild, Charlie didn't think it would still be alive but he wanted proof.

Harry paddled to the shore under Charlie's gaze and the taller man pulled the canoe onto shore as Harry climbed out.

'Thanks, Char,' he called over the heavy rain.

'I think I might have found it!' he replied with a grin.

'Where is it?' he returned as they headed into the tent.

He had spent almost thirteen years in the wizarding and still there were things that amazed him, the Burrow, and the way it defied gravity, Healers and what they could do. This tent and how it looked normal on the outside but inside it had two bedrooms, a kitchen and a fully functioning bathroom.

'It's trapped in a valley farther in the mountains then I thought,' he replied as he watched flop onto the couch. 'We'll have to pack up in the morning and move closer.'

Harry grinned, then bolted up and rummaged around his room, 'look at this!' he exclaimed, displaying the wand he'd made earlier today on his hands.

'Harry did you make this?' Charlie asked in awe, as he gently picked up the wand to examine it. It was about 9 inches, made from a beautiful piece of ash. There were several runes carved into the handle. Charlie could feel the magic radiating from it.

Harry nodded with a grin, not quite realizing the magnitude of his achievement.

'What did you use for a core?' There was something familiar about the magic but he couldn't place it.

'I'm not sure, I was just sort of drawn to a few things a silvery blue hair, a red-ish orange scale I think and a gem of some sort. It was blue. Then I found a quiet spot and focused my magic on it.' He blurted hastily.

Charlie suddenly cast several spells with the wand, all of them dissipating before hitting the wall of the tent.

The magic from the wand shot up Charlie's arm and it just felt right, 'can I use this Harry?' he asked, fingering the wand. Then his original wand started to glow as it levitated out of his holster.

'Charlie?' Harry took a step back as the wand he had made started to do the same. The two wands collided with a loud bang causing Harry and Charlie to duck reflexively.

When they looked up, there was only one wand, it was eleven inches and the birch of Charlie's original wand and the ash of the new wand were spiralled around each other.

'What was your original core?' Harry asked as he eyed the wand with the familiar runes in the handle.

'Dragon heart strings,' he replied as he reached out to tentatively touch the new wand.

'You really were destined to work with them,' Harry quipped as Charlie took hold of the wand's handle. A warmth surged up Charlie's arm and when it vanished there was a dragon, a Romanian Razorback, up his arm.

'Harry?' he asked staring at the tattoo that was moving in awe.

'I did that?' he asked as he ran his fingers lightly over the dragon.

'I think you did,' Charlie replied. 'You should think of studying under Ollivander, he hasn't had in apprentice in several decades,' Charlie suggested in an offhanded way.

'Is there a wand maker around here, I was thinking of moving,' Harry replied.

'I think we can find something,' Charlie replied, they were both still staring at the wand in Charlie's hand in awe.

'But what about the Aurors?' the redhead asked finally able to tear his attention away from the wand.

'They'll be fine without me, I'm just the poster boy,' Harry replied as Charlie tucked the new wand into his holster. 'Beside's I've decided it's time for a career change, I'm handing in my resignation to Kingsley when I get back and then I am going to find a wand maker to apprentice to,' he declared.

'When did you decide this?' Charlie asked.

Harry headed into the kitchen and started to make dinner, 'Well the quitting part I decided when I was on the lake, the other part, I just decided.'

Charlie nodded, 'if you need a place to stay, I have this really uncomfortable couch,' he trailed off as Harry laughed causing Charlie to grin.

'I might take you up on that,' Harry replied, than he sighed, 'I just have to clean out my apartment and get my stuff back from Wood,' he slumped into a chair.

'Let's catch ourselves a dragon and then you can do the rest later,' Charlie offered as squeezed Harry's arm.

'Thanks,' Harry gave a Charlie a small smile, before going back to dinner.

The next morning the pair packed up camp and headed to the valley that Charlie had found the day before.

It was a half a day's hike away and even then, Harry was exhausted by the time they decided to set up camp.

'You okay?' Charlie asked as he lit the fire in the fireplace.

Harry nodded, he had veered off the path and had fallen into a trap, Charlie had managed to catch him before he hit the jagged rocks at the bottom though. He was still spooked about the almost dying.

'I think I'm just going to turn in for the night,' Harry said softly.

'Call if you need anything,' Charlie offered before Harry disappeared in to his room.

Charlie came back later that night to an earth shattering scream.

'Harry!' he rushed into Harry's room and found him fighting the bed sheets as he screamed in terror.

'Harry!' he shouted again as he tried to wake Harry. It didn't work so Charlie pulled Harry into his arms and he began to murmur softly to the younger man in his arms.

After a few minutes Harry calmed and Charlie realised that he was still asleep but was clinging tightly to his shirt. Charlie shifted and enlarged the bed so they could both lie in it comfortably.

The next morning Harry woke first and was surprised to find Charlie in his bed, then he realised that he had Charlie's shirt in a death grip. He blushed, even though Charlie was still asleep and he carefully got up so not to wake the redhead.

When Harry returned from the bathroom Charlie wasn't on the bed, and Harry didn't know if he was relieved or not that Charlie was gone.

He hadn't gone far and Harry found Charlie in the kitchen.

'Morning,' Harry said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

'Sleep well?' Charlie asked.

Harry debated with himself for a moment. He knew there was no point in lying to Charlie, 'once the nightmare passed, I slept better than I have in ages.'

'How long have you been having them?' he asked as he served up eggs Benedict, Harry's favourite.

'My favourite,' Harry stated with a grin, 'as long as I can remember, they get worse after a traumatic experience.'

'So you really haven't had a reprieve at all have you?'

Harry sighed, 'these last couple of weeks with you have been the some of the best, sleep and company wise, I guess with almost dying yesterday...' he trailed off.

'Do you want to talk about them?' Charlie asked after a moment. Harry looked up at the redhead, studying him intently.

'No one's ever offered to talk about them before,' Harry said softly, almost ashamed.

'Not even Wood?' Charlie asked in surprise.

Harry shook his head, 'He always had some important thing the next day and he needed his rest.' He replied, 'Merlin's naked ghost, I can't believe I was with him for so long.'

Harry dropped his head into his hands and Charlie moved to sit next to him, gently rubbing his back.

'Come on, we should go check out that dragon,' Charlie offered after a moment.

Harry nodded, and took a deep breath before he stood, 'yeah, it'll be good to do something else,' he stated.

'Go get changed then,' he smirked. Harry was only wearing boxers, hardly enough to go hunt dragons.

Harry re-appeared to find Charlie packing, 'what's all that for?' he asked picking up something that looked like a muggle spray paint can.

'What's this?' he asked.

'Muggle spray paint,' Charlie replied, not looking at him, 'I was repainting some wood furniture.'

Charlie led Harry to the dragon and Harry was surprised to see how small it was. Where the ones he'd seen at the tournament had been huge, the Chinese Firebolt having been the smallest but even then it was still bigger than anything Harry had ever seen.

This one though was only about the size of an elephant, he, at least Harry thought it was a he, was a blue-ish green, and seemed just as fond of the water as it was the air.

'He's beautiful,' Harry breathed, 'watching as the dragon dove into the water before he soared through the air. He didn't make it high enough but he was at the wall and he tried to scramble up it but the rock faces were too slick.

'Why can't he get out?' Harry asked, watching the beautiful dragon as he snuffed around the bottom of the cliff face before he growled at the wall and turned away from it and curling in a ball in a patch of sunlight.

'Look at his tail,' Charlie replied, pointing down to the appendage in question.

Harry examined the appendage but didn't notice anything, 'see the tip of his tail?' Charlie asked. Harry tried to focus on the tip but it kept flicking around in irritation. Finally it settled and Harry noticed that the creature had a fin like tail, sort of like a fish or a mermaid, except that one side of the tail was mangled and wasn't working.

'They use their tales to fly and it's like they swim in the air, when he's in the water, it's okay, because he can use his other limbs but in the air it's different, he uses his tail to propel himself through the air.' Charlie explained.

'Poor guy,' Harry muttered.

'Now I just have to get down there and try to heal his fin,' he stated even as he tried to scan the best place to get into the crater.

Harry watched as Charlie approached the dragon that was hissing and spitting at Charlie.

The dragon toyed with Charlie, and Harry had to laugh because the dragon wasn't doing any real harm to Charlie, even as he perched on a rock above the dragon handler, his haunches wriggled before he pounced again.

This time Charlie's wand reacted, and a blue glow surrounded the dragon and suddenly the giant beast was laying low on his belly, purring softly as he nudged Charlie's leg.

'You can bring it down now,' Charlie called up. Harry had been waiting with the medical kit that Charlie had packed. 'Careful Harry,' he cautioned as Harry approached.

He slowed when the dragon eyed him and slowly edged toward the new comer.

The dragon sniffed at Harry for a moment before licking him.

Neither man moved for a full minute before they burst into laughter.

The dragon played with the wizards for some time before he tried to get out again, when it didn't work he grew pouty and stalked away from them.

'Moody,' Harry whispered to Charlie, who gave a low chuckle.

'If you were stuck down here as long as he has been you would be too,' Charlie replied, as he pulled out a very large needle.

Harry scrambled back, 'what the hell is that?' he squeaked.

'If we're going to fix his tail then we need to put him out first.' He replied almost sadly.

'Oh,' and then Harry registered the "we" that Charlie had used, 'what do mean "we" white man?'

'We'll someone has to distract him.'

'What if he tries to eat me after?'

Charlie snorted, 'he won't try to eat you.'

'He's already tried twice,' Harry blurted, 'the third time's the charm,' he said, looking less than impressed.

Charlie only laughed, 'he won't eat you,' he gave Harry a none too gentle nudge, 'now go distract him.'

Tiger snapped at Harry before the dragon turned and ignored them, Harry sat beside him and began to gently stroke his head and talk softly.

Charlie was cautious in his approach, before he injected Tiger with the most powerful sedative he had. Tiger glared at Harry mildly before his eyes rolled back and he fell into a deep sleep.

Charlie applied a salve to Tiger's tail and then injected the re-growth potion into Tiger. The dragon twitched but didn't wake.

'There, he'll be as good as new by morning,' Charlie stated as he admired his handy work.

'Fantastic, he can eat us then,' Harry stated with a glare at Charlie.

'He's not going to eat us,' Charlie insisted as he packed up his things before heading back to the tent.

'Yeah? We'll see about that,' Harry replied sceptically as he followed Charlie.

The next morning neither Charlie nor Harry had been eaten, but Tiger was gone, not that Harry or Charlie expected him to stay, but Harry was sad to see him go.

'I'll miss him,' Harry said as they packed up camp. They were going to find another place to camp for a week before heading back to civilization.

'Even if he did try to eat you?' Charlie asked with a smirk.

Harry glared, 'I'm moving to Romania,' he blurted out, still scowling.

'Really? Why?' Charlie asked, wondering when Harry had come to his latest decision.

'Well, it's not England and its beautiful here and there must be a wand maker I can apprentice to here. Ollivander already had his hands full and I just want to get out of England, I can't live there anymore.'

Charlie gave Harry's arm a gentle squeeze, 'you can stay with me until you figure something out,' he offered.

Harry gave a grateful smile, 'thanks,' then he suddenly shrieked as something was dropped in front of him. He scrambled back, afraid that whatever it was wanted to eat him.

It took a minute for both Charlie and Harry to realize that the giant lump in front of them wasn't moving.

'Charlie?' Harry asked tentatively.

'Yeah Harry?

'What is this?'

'I think it was a bear,' he replied, moving around the giant, unmoving mound of possibly dead bear.

'Why is it here?'

A sudden yelp came from behind them and Harry leapt at Charlie, who caught the smaller man with ease.

Tiger was behind them, sitting on his hunches with what Harry could only describe as a grin as his tail wagged.

Charlie grinned, 'he brought us breakfast,' he couldn't help but laugh.

Harry grumbled as he pulled himself away from Charlie, blushing furiously, 'well then he can carry the blasted thing.'

Harry patted Tiger, 'thanks but I'm trying to cut back on my bear consumption, but you're more than welcome to it,' he said as he headed into the tent.

Tiger looked mildly put out, then shrugged devoured the large mammal.

'He ate it didn't he?' Harry asked when Charlie came in.

'Yeah, he did,' Charlie replied, trying not to laugh.

'Pig,' Harry replied, and Charlie burst into laughter, 'I guess we're staying here for a little bit,' Harry said, ignoring Charlie's amusement.

'He might follow us,' Charlie offered after he managed to get himself under control.

'He probably will,' Harry agreed, 'I have to clean out my apartment, he'll have to follow you.'

A week later found Charlie showing Tiger off to his colleagues while Harry was at his apartment.

Harry was packing the last of his things when there was a burst of energy from one of the wards. The anti-Oliver ward that Bill had helped him put up the day after the wedding.

It was another ten minutes before Harry went to rescue Oliver from the ward that had duct taped him to the wall.

'Harry, please!' he called out when Harry came into view.

'Hello, Oliver,' Harry said calmly.

'Please Harry, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to sleep with her,' he stated as he struggled with his bonds.

'If it had been once, maybe I could understand, but for three months,' a group of woman who had been trying to help Oliver before Harry came down gasped and glared at Oliver.

'Harry please,' he tried again, but Harry scoffed at him.

'Where were you when I needed you?' he asked and Oliver winced, Harry answered for him, 'oh right, you having sex with her while I was losing our child!' he shouted in his rage, something he hadn't felt yet. One of the women, a busty brunette, Oliver vaguely recognized her as a neighbour of Harry's he thought, approached Harry and gently laid a hand on him. Harry seemed to lean into the touch, even though he hadn't looked to see who it was.

When Oliver had told Harry at the wedding, Harry had simply nodded and walked away, saying he had a wedding to be in and all in his time with Charlie he had tried his damndest to not think of Oliver. It had worked, for the most part.

Oliver's eyes looked away from Harry, 'If I had known...' he trailed off.

'But you didn't, but not for lack of trying, they called you, everywhere I thought you would be me, stupid me didn't think of her place.' He ranted, a curvy redhead joined Harry and her friend.

'I guess we're done?' Oliver asked and suddenly his head snapped to the side and he was seeing stars. Their audience gasped as a hand print blossomed on Oliver's cheek.

'We were done the moment you fucked her the first time, I just didn't know it yet,' Harry snarled and stormed back up the stairs, leaving Oliver stuck to the wall.

'Where are my things?' Oliver called before Harry got too far away.

'I threw your shit out,' he said coldly before he continued storming away. A pain-filled howl followed him to the landing of his floor, Harry's magic delivering a nasty blow to his crotch.

'I think something ruptured,' the brunette muttered to the redhead, at the wet spot that appeared on Oliver's jeans.

'Nah, he's just wet himself,' the redhead replied with a smirk. The pair sent their friends out for the night while they went up to check on Harry.

The pair found Harry sitting on the couch holding one of Oliver's t-shirt.

'I used to have to hold it to get to sleep,' he stated, not looking up at the newcomers.

'And now?' the redhead asked.

Harry sighed and tossed the shirt into the fireplace, 'now it smells like ass,' he replied.

Both girls started laughing, and Harry cracked a smile.

'There he is,' the brunette said dropping onto the couch beside Harry, 'you know everyone moves at their own pace,' she said, cryptically.

Then it made sense when Candi, the redhead, asked, 'so how was your vacation? Find any man-meat?'

Tori, the brunette, swatted at her friend.

'I found a dragon,' Harry replied, with a grin, not wanting to even think about Charlie in that kind of way, because he had just gotten out of a serious relationship.

'Dragon's are good,' Candi offered, 'but I want to know about the man-meat.' She grinned and ducked the next swat.

Harry sighed, 'I'm moving, I'm starting over and Charlie offered his uncomfortable couch until I get someplace of my own.' He hadn't realized that a small wistful smile had taken over his mouth.

'Aw, so Charlie's the-'

'If you say "man-meat" again Candice, I swear you'll be eating from a straw for a week,' Tori threatened.

'The new piece of affection,' Candi offered.

'He wouldn't want that, not with me,' Harry stated, defeated.

Tori scoffed, 'how do you know?' she asked.

'Because, he just wouldn't.'

'Really, because it seems to me that he wants you already,' Candi offered.

Harry perked up but didn't say anything.

'Don't burn this,' Candi stated suddenly, holding up a photo album, they were mostly photos of Harry and Oliver. 'Just because he was a giant jerk and ruined everything, doesn't mean he didn't love you once.'

'Besides,' Tori added, 'you look really good in them!' she grinned.

'Don't you have a night out or something tonight?' Harry asked with a mild scowl.

Both girls laughed as they headed out to find their friends.

The pair passed Draco and Hermione who had gotten back from their own trip the day before. They watched the pair, who had waved in recognition before running from the building.

'Oh sweet relief, Malfoy, Granger, please get me down,' Oliver pleaded, his pants were wet and he was starting to smell.

Draco burst into laughter and Hermione scowled at her husband half-heartedly.

'Is there a reason your here?' she asked crossing her arms across her chest and turning her glare on Wood.

Oliver whimpered, causing Draco to laugh harder, 'I just came to get my stuff,' he replied.

'No wonder he stuck you against the wall, he's been away for a month and you pick the day he gets back to get your stuff,' she retorted. She sighed and with a wave of her wand Oliver tumbled to the floor. 'Get out, and maybe we'll send your stuff.'

Oliver thanked her and cast a hasty cleansing charm now that he could get to his wand and ran out of the building.

Hermione sighed and Draco kissed her softly, 'let's go see that irritating brother of yours,' he said gently pulling her to the elevator. Even though he'd been in the one in the Ministry more often then she had, he still found the muggle one fascinating, not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

'Harry?' Hermione asked as she pushed open the door cautiously.

'Here!' Harry called out, and the pair exchanged a look before looking for the other man.

They found him sitting in front of the roaring fire with a giant box.

'Harry, what are you doing?' Draco asked picking a well worn Quidditch jersey from the box, only to have Harry snatch it and throw it into the fire.

'Burning his crap,' he replied airily as he grabbed something else from the box.

Draco dropped to the ground on the other side of the box, 'can I help?' he asked, pulling out a pair of Gryffindor boxer shorts with a look of disgust. 'oh ew,' he cringed as he flicked the offending garment into the flames.

'Sure, Hermione?' both boys looked up at her but she was flipping through a photo album.

'You're not burning these,' she stated, though there was a hint of a question in there as well.

'No, I was going to but, he was a part of my life and as much as I hate him right now, I did love him. I know when it doesn't quite hurt as much I'll want those, I don't know why but I will,' he replied as he added a pair of brand new sneakers to the fire with a snarl. 'Besides I look really good in them,' he added with a grin.

She bent down to give him an awkward hug, 'are you moving?' she asked, as she finally caught sight of the rest of the boxes that were stacked around the room and neatly labelled.

Harry blushed, 'yeah, I was in Romania for a month with Charlie.' Hermione's eyes widened but she didn't say anything, they knew that Harry had been away but they didn't know where, no one had. 'I needed to not be here and he offered and it was amazing and beautiful and I think I have a dragon now.' He began his babble.

'A dragon?' Both Hermione and Draco echoed.

'I didn't do it on purpose,' Harry replied indignantly, 'we helped him get his tail back and he just sort of followed us,' he offered with a shrug.

Draco was the first to burst into laughter, he moved so he could drape and arm across Harry's shoulders, 'only you Potter,' he said, his amusement and affection for the brunet obvious.

Hermione dropped beside him, in a fit of giggles, 'where is he now?' she wanted to see this dragon.

'He's with Charlie, I'm moving in with him, until I find my own place, of course,' he replied, completely missing the look that passed between the married couple as he summoned another photo album.

'Oh Harry, he's beautiful,' Hermione gushed.

Draco scoffed, 'he's not beautiful, he's fierce and deadly,' he stated. Hermione gave her husband the look that told him that she wasn't at all amused by his idiocy. He rolled his eyes, 'okay fine, he's beautiful killing machine,' he sighed.

'Don't hurt yourself,' Harry smirked.

'What's his name? It is a he right?' Hermione asked all curiosity as she ignored her husband.

'Tiger,' Harry replied, without a hint of embarrassment.

'Tiger?' Draco snorted before laughing. Both Hermione and Harry trounced him with pillows.

'What?' he cried defensively.

'Tiger is a perfectly good name for a dragon,' Hermione insisted, ever defending her little brother, 'so Harry, why "Tiger"?' she asked as non-offensively as she could.

'Well for starters if you look carefully his colouring, while not orange is sort of like a tigers,' he said finding a photo of the dragon in the light to show off the blue-green that was his scales, there was of course a pattern quite similar to a tigers coat, though Tiger's stripes were of darker greens and blues. 'And also, he's like this giant cat, he pounces and chases insects and things that we can't see and he sleeps in the sun all day and he purrs.' Harry blurted enthusiastically.

'If you're moving to Romania, what are you going to do about your job?' Draco asked, he knew that Harry wasn't as fond of his job as he had once been.

'I quit, I gave King my resignation letter earlier, he was sad to see me go but he understood. I told him he should hire Seamus,' he replied, basking in the fire for a moment letting what he'd tossed in burn for a bit before adding more.

'Seamus will love you,' Draco snorted.

'I know,' Harry grinned.

Just then there was a tapping at the window, Hermione let in the official looking owl.

He landed in front of Harry and presented his leg.

Harry took the scroll and the owl immediately flew back out the opened window.

Harry could only stare at the letter stupidly.

'What is it, Harry?' Hermione asked.

'Harry?' Draco asked, waving a hand in front of Harry's face. Suddenly Harry was on his feet, dancing like a fool.

Harry thrust the letter into Hermione's hands and continued to dance around. Draco crowded behind her to find out why his brother was dancing like an idiot.

It was a letter from a Florin Volchenkov, he was a wand maker in a town that the dragon handler's frequented. He had spoken with his "Weaseley friend" about the wand Harry had made and he would be "most pleased and honoured if a man like Mr Potter" would share his skills with him.

'You made a wand?' Both Draco and Hermione blurted together.

Harry blushed, 'I didn't mean to, I was just wandering around and they call sort of just called to me. Eventually I just sort of meditated and pushed my magic into them and I had a wand. I showed it to Charlie and it worked for him and then something happened and his wand and the one I made just... combined and there was a new wand made from the two wands and it was amazing. I have no idea how I did it but I... it... wow...' he trailed off, finished his ramble.

Draco and Hermione could only blink owlishly at Harry for a moment before Hermione had to sit down.

'Do you know what that means, Harry?' she asked, breathlessly.

'That I can make wands?' he guessed.

Draco swatted him across the back of his head as he muttered, 'git.' Harry gave him a half-hearted scowl.

'There aren't many wand makers,' she announced. 'Why not study under Ollivander?' she asked finally looking at Harry.

Harry sighed, 'because I just want to be somewhere where I'm not a poster boy or a saviour or the most eligible bachelor on every witch or wizard's list of people they want to unbachelorfy.'

'That's not even a word,' Draco snorted.

Both Hermione and Harry glared at Draco, 'it is now,' Harry pouted.

Hermione draped an arm over Harry's shoulders, 'I can understand that, from what I can gather the way you made your wand greatly differed from Ollivander's methods. I'll have to look it up, just to be sure.'

Draco rolled his eyes and Harry turned back to the fire. It really was too hot to be doing this, tossing Oliver's stuff in a fire but he really wanted to.

'Thankyouthankyouthankyou!' Harry chanted as he tossed himself at Charlie, who caught him easily.

The redhead laughed, 'you're most welcome,' he said as he placed Harry back on his feet.

'You really don't mind me staying with you?' Harry asked as they headed towards Charlie's place.

'No, not at all, I look forward to it. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to about things other than dragons,' he replied.

Harry gave a small laugh, 'how's Tiger?' he asked.

It was Charlie's turn to laugh, 'I think he's pining for you,' he replied, only to laugh harder at Harry's look of disbelief.

'Yeah okay,' he snorted as he hoisted himself into Charlie's Jeep. It was easier to get around in it then by magical means since most magic seemed to set off the dragons. Not that there were any anywhere near the compound but Charlie did love his Jeep.

In the short drive Harry told Charlie about the encounter with Oliver and then with Hermione and Draco and how she didn't think Tiger was a very good name for a dragon.

It took all of 3 seconds for Harry to be pinned down and given a tongue bath by said dragon.

Charlie and the others were laughing too hard to be of any real help.

Harry finally managed to free himself from Tiger's sand-paper-y tongue of icky-ness. He glared at the dragon then at everyone else but the look was lost thanks to hair that was sticking up every which way.

He ignored the others and turned his back to them as they continued to laugh like hyenas and spoke to Tiger, 'hey boy, I missed you too, but you can't go around licking me like that, it's just... it's kind of gross.'

Tiger purred and butted Harry's chest. Harry rolled his eyes and sighed, even as he gently rubbed Tiger's nose, 'thanks for nothing, you useless reptile.'

'You're all jerks,' he stated as he and Tiger headed for Charlie's place.

'So when are you going to see Volchenkov? He's eager to meet such a magnificent crafter of the magic vand.' Charlie asked as he made dinner.

'Not till tomorrow afternoon,' Harry replied a little tersely.

'You can't still be mad?' Charlie asked almost whining.

'Why can't I? He could've decided that he was going to eat me and all you and gang of hooligans did was stand around and laugh,' Harry stated, still angry that no one had come to his rescue.

'How many times do I have to tell you that he won't eat you?' Charlie asked, this fear of Harry's was getting a little out of hand.

Harry just glared, 'when he eats me you'll be really upset,' he said as he set the table.

'I'm sorry okay,' Charlie said, 'I don't know why you think he's going to eat you but I've seen the way he is with you, he's some bizarre mix of cat and dog, independent and loyal. And it's you he's, I don't know, imprinted on. So I'm sorry I didn't save you from you damn pet, but I didn't see the need to.'

'I'm sorry,' Harry muttered, before he fled the kitchen, leaving Charlie to stare at the chair that he'd been sitting in only moments before.

Charlie sighed as he rubbed his forehead, this really wasn't going the way it was supposed to.

He put a stasis charm on everything and went to find Harry. It wasn't very hard because a few minutes later the redhead found the younger man in the closet.

'Harry, I'm sorry, okay. I don't know what I have to say to make it better. I don't know why you think that Tiger is going to eat you when all he wants is you affection,' Charlie stated.

'Dragons and I don't get along all that much,' Harry replied, as he tried to move further into the closet.

'Why are you in here?' Charlie asked, looking around the closet.

Harry just shrugged, he had no idea why he had decided to camp out in the closet, of all places.

'Look, if I promise to keep Tiger from slobbering all over you and eating you will you come out of the closet?' Charlie offered, holding out his hand for the younger man to take.

Harry sighed and let Charlie lift him out of the closet.

'Look, I'm sorry about earlier, but he really has been pining for you. He hasn't eaten much and he's been moping around. That reaction was the most live we've seen out of him since you've been gone,' Charlie replied.

Harry gave Charlie a sceptical look, but didn't say anything else.

'I started dinner, you hungry?' Charlie asked, knowing that it would take a whole lot to convince Harry about his sincerity and Tiger's will to not eat him.

'I suppose I could be persuaded to eat,' he started as nonchalantly as he could, but his stomach growling loudly cut him off. 'I'm friggin' starving okay?' Harry glared mildly at his traitorous stomach before he glanced up at Charlie, blushing furiously.

Charlie was trying to not laugh.

Harry's stomach did that weird grumble-y, gargle-y thing again and Charlie snorted before hurrying into the kitchen.

'Better get you feed before your stomach eats you alive!' the redhead called through the door.

'Very funny, you jerk,' Harry mock scowled, joining Charlie in the kitchen.

Charlie finished making dinner and Harry watched for a few minutes, 'I'm sorry,' he blurted suddenly.

'You don't have to...' Charlie started with a wave of his hand.

'No,' Harry interrupted, 'I may have overreacted earlier. I don't know why I get so antsy around Tiger, I think I know he's not going to eat me but I... just... I don't know,' he finished lamely.

Charlie placed the pasta dish in front of Harry, 'It's okay, I'll talk to the guys and no one will bring it up, I promise. Beside's it's probably already forgotten,' he offered.

'Probably not,' Harry mumbled.

It didn't take very long for Harry to settle into his new life in Romania. He'd spend his days with VOlchenkov, both men learning from the other.

His nights he spent with Charlie and Tiger and the others at the reserve. Harry had finally accepted that Tiger wasn't going to eat him. Harry had gone into the forest to forage for wand parts and Tiger and Charlie had gone with him.

_Charlie had offered to go set up camp so Harry could look for ingredients, and knowing that it would take Charlie only a few minutes to set up, the wonders of magic._

_Harry let the magic pull him and soon enough he had several pieces of wood, hair samples from at least a dozen animals and another dozen things that he had no idea what they were but the magic that radiated from them was just fantastic._

_He got turned around in the forest, he had been too focused on following the magic that he didn't pay any attention to his surroundings and he had no idea where he was._

'_Crap,' he muttered as he pulled his wand out, he couldn't be too far from Charlie. With his wand on his palm he muttered, 'point me,' and then as it settled north he realised that it was generally a useless spell because he had absolutely no idea which way he had come from. He shoved his wand into the holster and tried to follow his footsteps back._

_He didn't get very far when he heard something, a rustling, and froze, his wand sliding into his hand._

_Then the growling began as a giant bear emerged from the trees._

'_And you're a bear,' Harry stated, trying to not panic. _

_The bear stalked closer, and Harry despite his intense fear, recognized the fur from one of the items he had collected but didn't recognize._

'_Oh, you're not a normal bear,' Harry stated as the bear rose to its hind paws. Its underbelly had a layer of fine scales and while its front paws were very bear like, its hind end was more like a giant cat. _

'_What the hell are you?' Harry asked as he backed away from the not-bear._

_The bear growled and launched itself at Harry, who fired off several spells blindly. He crouched down, covering his head wishing he had thanked Charlie for being there when he needed someone._

_It took a few minutes for Harry to realize that the impact hadn't come. He peaked out from under his arm and stared in amazement as Tiger faced off against the not-bear._

_The cat-bear launched itself at Tiger and dragon snarled at the other animal before launching himself at it. It didn't take long before the cat-bear-thing was whimpering as it ran away._

_Tiger snarled after it before he prowled the area for a minute before turning back to a startled Harry._

_Tiger gave a low mewling noise before butting his head against Harry's chest._

_Harry gave him a small smile before scratching his nose, 'you don't want to eat me do you?' he asked softly. Tiger shook his head and licked Harry's hand._

'_I'm sorry I thought you would,' he offered._

_Tiger snuffled and crouched down, and Harry, having watched the others, knew that Tiger wanted him to mount him. It was a quick fly back to the campsite._

'_Thanks,' Harry mumbled as he pressed a kiss to Tiger's head before he dismounted._

'_So you two okay now?' Charlie asked, amused and concerned._

_Harry glared mildly at Charlie, 'You know of any odd creatures?' he asked instead._

'_What kind of odd?' Charlie asked, his amusement gone._

'_It was half bear, half big cat, with a scale-y belly,' Harry replied, a little uneasy with Charlie's unease._

_Charlie sat heavily on the log that was conveniently located behind him, 'Harry, that bear-thing, that's like the holy grail of the Romanian cryptozoology community.'_

_Harry blinked, 'what?'_

'_You know how the Basilisk was supposed to be extinct?' Charlie asked._

_Harry nodded, 'what about it?'_

'_Well apparently this Bear-mera, has supposed to have been extinct for thousands of years.' _

'_Like Sasquatch,' Harry replied._

'_Yeah,' Charlie offered, looking up at Harry._

'_I think I have some of its fur,' he replied, in a daze._

Harry had used it and a Basilisk fang and the bark of a Weeping Willow and made a wand that had combined with his original wand.

To say that Volchenkov had been impressed would have been an understatement.

He had seen it and it had blown his mind. To have wands from two different makers combine themselves into one it had been a thing of beauty.

Harry had had to regal the others with his tale of the "chi-bear-a" practically every night for a week.

And then everyone was telling their friends and families but no one came to talk to Harry, to interview him, to see his wand, and it wasn't until he heard the story fifth hand from someone in a store.

He wasn't named because it was always a "friend of a friend of mine".

He grinned to himself.

'I'm an urban legend,' he blurted one night.

Charlie started at Harry for a moment, 'an urban legend?' he asked a little sceptically.

'Yeah, when I was on lunch today I was doing some shopping and I overheard these two teenagers, "so this happened to a friend of a friend of mine, it's totally true,"' he mimicked, 'only it was in Romanian, and I think she said "totally" but I'm not sure.'

Suddenly Charlie was kissing Harry.

And Harry was kissing him back.

Then Charlie was pulling away apologizing profusely.

Harry tried to shut him up but he wouldn't so Harry kissed him, fiercely.

When Charlie and Harry parted for oxygen, Harry rested his head against Charlie's shoulder, panting.

'I've wanted you to do that for so long, you giant berk,' he mumbled into him.

'I guess I missed that memo,' Charlie chuckled softly.

Harry placed soft kisses along Charlie's jaw, 'I wanted to thank you, for everything that you've done for me, and it means a lot.'

'You're welcome,' Charlie replied, 'but this isn't just to say thank you is it?' he asked, pulling away slightly.

'No,' Harry hurriedly replied, 'no, not at all, I really like you, a lot and I want to see what we can have,' he explained.

'I think we can have a lot,' Charlie grinned.

That night, Harry knocked tentatively on Charlie's door, surprised to see the dragon handler reading.

'Harry what is it?' he asked, using his finger to mark his page of the thick tome he was reading.

'I don't... can I sleep with you? I mean sleep, sleep not sex, sleep because I'm too freaked out right now but I just want to be near someone because that seems to keep the nightmares away and you don't want to, it's okay, I just thought I'd ask,' Harry babbled even as he turned to leave.

'Harry!' Charlie shouted for the third time, finally getting his attention.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you,' Harry said softly.

Charlie flipped back the blankets, 'are you coming?' he asked expectantly.

Harry stared at Charlie before grinning and bounding to the bed, he bounced on it beside Charlie, 'you sure?'

'When did you become a puppy?' Charlie asked, since Harry was staring at him with large pleading eyes.

He got a mouthful of pillows for his troubles.

Charlie's book lay forgotten on the floor and the pair lay in a tangle of limbs and sheets. Harry lay on his stomach and Charlie was practically lying on him, his legs entwined with him and his head on Harry's back.

Tiger sat at the window watching his humans with a grin, he purred as he wandered back to the two hatchlings he had somehow adopted, or rather they had adopted him.

Damn hatchlings. They had latched onto him, followed him about and otherwise made a general nuisance of themselves.

At least now he didn't have to worry as much about his humans. He growled at the little pink demon that was trying to eat his tail before flicking it at the purple monstrosity that wanted to snuggle.

Harry woke warm and content and nuzzled the lightly furred chest he was resting against.

He grinned as Charlie let out an incoherent rumble and tightened his hold on his bed partner.

Harry ran soft fingers through the even softer hair on Charlie's chest, his fingers ghosting over a nipple.

Charlie moaned softly, his back arching into the touch.

Harry bent his head and gently lapped the pink-ish brown nub, and Charlie's hand curled into Harry's hair.

'Harry, pet, please,' Charlie gave a soft moan.

'Oh good, you're awake,' Harry beamed, 'we should hurry up, we have to be at the Burrow in about an hour,' he hopped off the bed and practically bounced into the bathroom.

Charlie groaned and used the pillow to try to smother himself and then he heard the shower turn on and he grinned to himself before hauling himself out of bed he quietly made his way to the bathroom.

He didn't know if he was disappointed or not when Harry wasn't surprised to see him step into the shower with him.

Charlie's thick arms wrapped around him and Harry leaned into the hard body and Charlie's hands explored his lover's well muscled form.

Harry rubbed himself against Charlie and the redhead could feel himself harden. His hand traveled down Harry's chest and fondled his navel for a moment before finding an answering hard length.

It took a moment for him to process the fact that Harry was completely hairless. His hand cupped smooth hairless balls and trailed down to a thigh that was smoother than silk, and his crease free of any hair too.

Charlie moaned, he loved his partners smooth and clean.

Harry reached behind himself and positioned Charlie's erection between his thighs. Where Harry was clean and smooth, Charlie had patches of fine coarse hair. While Harry preferred to be smooth, he preferred his partner's to be hairy.

Charlie wrapped a large hand around Harry's erection and Harry rocked himself between the hard length and the warm fist.

It didn't take long before the pair was coating the wall with their release.

The pair back up and Harry leaned against Charlie who was leaning against the wall.

'Wow,' Harry panted.

'No kidding,' Charlie agreed.

They both recovered and washed each other and as much as Harry hadn't had a thought about Oliver in the months since he had left the man, he couldn't help but wonder why he'd never been left speechless like this with Oliver.

They made it to the Burrow on time and were greeted enthusiastically but both Molly and Arthur.

Everyone was there.

Hermione and Draco, who'd been handing out souvenirs they had collected for everyone.

They gave an impressive collection of Quidditch paraphernalia to Ron and Viktor, who had met during a Quidditch match when Viktor, who'd been focused on the snitch, and Ron, who'd been focused on the quaffle, had collided. Not only had Viktor caught the snitch but Ron had stopped the quaffle and, while Viktor's team celebrated and Ron's team tromped off the field in defeat, Viktor was asking a flustered Ron if he wanted to go for dinner.

A collection of hard to get potion ingredients went to Severus and his love, Remus, received a collection of even rarer books. Their son Bastian got an assortment of toys and story books.

Charlie received a snow globe, of all things, that had a miniature of an Algonquin Snow Dragon.

Bill and Fleur, who both loved to cook, had gotten several recipe books, and both were eager to try this recipe or that one. They spent the rest of the night arguing over who got to make their recipe first.

Molly and Arthur had gotten the first ultrasound photo. Molly spent several minutes sobbing into Hermione, as she thanked the young woman for giving her, her first grandbaby.

Fred and George had been floored when they'd received a gloriously large box of pranks and fireworks and other assorted trouble making paraphernalia.

Harry, he received a spectacularly large box. He had opened slowly, and as he peered inside he had to blink several times. The box, which was roughly a three foot cube, was packed with candy. Soft chews, chocolates, hard candies, things he had never heard of had been packed into the box.

He had to sit on his box to keep everyone out of his treasure. He would eventually share but he wanted to explore his bounty first.

It was Remus who noticed first, of course he could smell the pair on each other, but he gave Harry a questioning look, his gaze darting to Charlie. Harry blushed and grinned and Remus simply pulled him into a hug,

'As long as you're happy, cub,' he had whispered for only Harry to hear.

Hermione had almost squealed when she'd asked Harry what all the touches and furtive glances meant.

Ron had slapped his brother's back, 'you're much better than the Berk,' he stated matter-of-factly, causing both Bill and Charlie to sputter their drinks, one from surprise, the other in laughter.

Arthur had shaken both their hands and told Charlie, in no uncertain terms, that should he ever hurt Harry the way that the Berk had, then he would disown his second eldest. Harry sputtered a protest but Arthur had given him a mock scowl and stated, 'the same goes for you, young man,' as sternly as he could. Which, admittedly wasn't very, since he was trying to not smile.

When Molly found the pair necking in the kitchen she had demanded to know when they would give her some grandbabies. Both Harry and Charlie had turned beet red and had started babbling about how they had only just started dating and that they hadn't even had sex yet and then Charlie simply blurted, 'Marry me.'

Everything stopped and Harry started at his redhead as the rest of them peered into the kitchen, Molly watched with wide, hopeful eyes and her hands clasped under her ample bosom.

Harry realized that a few things then. The first was that what he felt for Charlie was so much _more _than what he'd ever felt for Oliver. The next was that while he'd officially been with his redhead for only a day, Charlie had been with him through, possibly, one of the worst periods of his life, and had stayed, hadn't made excuses about not being around, hadn't left him to flounder about like a fish on land, had offered his house to his youngest brother's best friend. Harry had wondered, in the brief time he'd been alone since yesterday if he could fall in love with Charlie, but he already had.

It felt like a thousand years to Charlie as he waited for Harry to answer, and so he started to babble about knowing it was too soon, and that they had only been together since yesterday but they had spent all this time together and a courting ritual and then Harry covered Charlie's mouth with his hand.

He nodded.

* * *

_Much thanks to everyone who sent in their guesses. Pretty much everyone knew that Harry and Hermione were two of the major players. Everyone thought that Ron and Hermione were getting married, Madame de Coeur was the only one who thought it was Draco, so go you!_

_I know I didn't leave many clues however I kept wavering about who Harry's boyfriend was going to be so I was hoping that one of the suggestions would strike something... alas that wasn't the case. _

_Now that this is finished, I still have like half a dozen stories to work on so check out my poll and vote for the story that most appeals to you. There are Harry Potter and Buffy and even a crossover for the two! And if you want to see something else than feel free ask!_

_And to everyone who has given me an idea that isn't on the list, I haven't forgotten!_


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